I am a huge fan & supporter of inter-racial marriages, something which still meets with strong, but muted, disapproval in far too many circles, even now, in our allegedly “enlightened” 21st century America.
Miscegenation is a great way to defeat racism through the power of love and it also creates bi-racial and multi-racial children, whom our society should cherish and welcome as being full fledged members of both (or all) of the races they can claim a lineage of descent from.
Now, I’m well aware that it doesn’t work that way in real life, at least not today, for a lot of people.
But I firmly believe that it should & could with the right kind of social engineering and public re-education.
I myself am half black (on my mother’s side) and half-white (on my father’s side) and I look like (and am often mistaken for) an Hispanic.
You know, one of my very favorite old movies, is: Imitation of Life, a 1934 film adaptation of Fannie Hurst's 1933 novel by the same name.
There have been several remakes of the movie, but I like this original version best.
Among many other things, Imitation of Life tells the story of a young light skinned bi-racial woman named Sarah Jane, who is born to a black mother but (because her father was white) has skin light enough to make it possible for her to pass as a 100 % white person.
One of the movie’s major plots is about Sarah Jane’s encounters with the dominate white culture of the late 30’s & early 40’s , which was much more overtly racist and supremacist at that time then it is today.
Her experiences teach this young woman early on to hate her black side, and to pretend to be only of one race.
Indeed, there is a scene early on in the movie, (when the young women is still a child) where she proclaims: “I want to be white”.
As she starts going to school, Sarah Jane pretends to be 100% white around her new found friends, but, her mother (who is undeniably black),who's name is Annie, keeps showing up, in front of her classmates and friends etc.
Making it exceedingly difficult for her to keep her true identity a secret.
Adolescence finds Sarah Jane continuing to attempt to pass for what she’s not.
She begins dating a white boy who severely beats her after learning she is half black.
Some time later, Sarah Jane passes as fully white in order to get a job performing at a seedy nightclub, and lies to Annie telling her she is working at the local library.
When Annie learns the truth and appears to claim her daughter, Sarah Jane is fired, and her subsequent dismissal leads her to hatefully spurn her mother’s love.
So, in a scene that never fails to bring tears to my eyes, the Sarah Jane tells her mother that she must never see her again, and that even if they pass each other on the street, they must act as though they are perfect strangers.
This of course breaks Annie’s heart, but she complies with her daughter’s wishes.
Shortly thereafter, Annie is taken ill and dies, presumably of a broken heart.
Annie’s funeral is given in a large church, complete with a gospel choir and a parade-like procession with a horse-drawn hearse.
In another heart wrenching scene, just before the procession begins, a remorseful Sarah Jane tears through the assembled mourners and throws herself upon her mother's casket, begging her mother’s forgiveness for having rejected her.
This movie points out what a truly evil thing racism is, because it can lead people to hate and dis-own their own blood kin, and ,perhaps even more tragically, it can teach them to hate an intrinsic, and inescapable, part of who and what they are.
A song by the famous singer, actress and entertainer: Cher, entitled “Half-Breed” also touches me, because it deals with the subject of a woman who is contending with her bi-racial ancestry.
The song tells the story of a young woman who is half white and half Cherokee and the troubles she faces with rejection by both sides of her family on account of racism.
According to the lyrics white people often called her "Indian squaw" and the Native Americans never accepted her because they told her that she was "white by law."
THIS KIND OF BIGOTRY IS A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY!
And, the only way to stop it is to punish racial exclusivity and to teach children from infancy onwards, that they should always and everywhere reject the concept of “otherness” as a matter of course, and embrace people of all races as their brothers and sisters in the human family.
If we start doing that, then inter-racial marriage and miscegenation will become wonderful means for uniting all people together as one.
FOR IN TRUTH, THERE IS ONLY ONE RACE, THE HUMAN RACE!
